4 city councillors want Regina to declare 'houselessness emergency'; want action before winter - Action News
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Saskatchewan

4 city councillors want Regina to declare 'houselessness emergency'; want action before winter

Regina councillors want to see a plan to address homelessness in next year's city budget.They also want safety guidelines for any new homeless encampments.

Twonotices of motion are set to go before council on Wednesday

A woman in a pink blazer stand in a field where a homeless tent city stands.
Ward 8 Coun. Shanon Zachidniak said Regina needs plans to address houselessness. (Raphale Frigon/Radio-Canada)

Four Regina city councillors want the city to declare a "houselessness emergency."

This comes in the wake of tents being torn down in front of Regina city hall in late July. The councillors want to see a plan to address homelessness in next year's city budget.They also want safety guidelines for any new homeless encampments.

Councillors Dan LeBlanc, Andrew Stevens, Cheryl Stadnichuk and Shanon Zachidniak are behind twonotices of motion set to go before council on Wednesday. They want action before winter.

One of the notices in part zeros in on the city's point-in-time homeless count, which spiked by 110 per cent between 2015 and 2021, according to the proposed motion. That'sa sign that all levels of government need to step in with shelter options, especially ahead of wintertime, thecouncillors said.

They also want the city and community partners to draft a written safety checklist for homeless encampments. They do not want encampments to be torn downunless there's an unwillingness from camp organizers to address reoccurring safety concerns.

Two police officers can be seen beside some tents.
Police were at Regina city hall on July 27 after fire officials said people living at a homeless encampment there had to leave. (Alexander Quon/CBC News)

They are also looking for financial support and other resources from provincial and federal levels of government,Ward 8 Councillor Zachidniaksaid.

"We're also wanting to ensure that conversations are happening with folks who've been houseless and also community stakeholders, including organizations that work with folks who have mental health issues and addictions," Zachidniak said. "Because that's been raised as a barrier right now to housing folks.

"We do need to figure outwhat are we going to do? Because having people freeze to death in the streets is not an outcome that I'm OK with."

Workingwith city administration

Zachidniaksaid the councillorsthink city administration may already be working on some solutions, so they want them to bring theirshort- and long-term plansand tent camp safety protocols to council.

"Then we can discuss those as a council, and community members can come out and tell us if they think it's sufficient or if they see any gaps. So let's just get a plan for discussion at council and then we can tweak it if needed from there."

As for seeing funds for houselessness in the2024 budget, Zachidniak said the councillors are not asking for the budget to 'end houselessness' like a previous controversial motion.

"Now we're asking administration, what do you propose to do? What would be a reasonable way to incorporate it in the budget?"

A white man white brown hair and trim beard is wearing glasses and a charcoal grey coat over a white shirt. Behind him are tents and boxes, and Regina's city hall. Some volunteers are handing out items at one of the tents.
A special council meeting was called in late July, then cancelled shortly before it was supposed to start. Mayor Sandra Masters said it was due to lack of quorum, but Ward 3 Coun. Dan LeBlanc, shown here, called that 'bogus.' (Will Draper/CBC)

As for encampment safety, Zachidniak said that addition to the motion came from discussions with camp volunteers, who aren't clear on the safety protocols.

The other notice of motion isabout special council meetings. Thiscomes after one about the tent camp was cancelled last minute. The city said it was due to a lack of quorum, but the fourcouncillors argue these meetings should never be cancelled, regardless of how many councillors can attend.

Help needed from those in positions of power

Former city hall encampment volunteer andcommunity activist Mandla Mthembu said he is encouraged by the notice of motion on houselessness.

"To hear some counsellors, that are actually in a position of power,kind of siding with the public as far as advocating for this as a crisis was really exciting. Because we know thata lot of people don't feel like taking action until it's stated as such a state of emergency ... oruntil they're kind of forced to make a decision," Mthembu said.

"We're hoping that this is the kind of pressure that is needed to make the administration and the provincial, federal governments actually take this seriously."

A man in a white shirt stands in front of a yellow tent.
Mandla Mthembu, a former camp volunteer and a community activist, said he is pleased the four city councillors are pushing for action at the city level. (Laura Sciarpelletti/CBC)

Mthembu said he and other volunteers continue to patrol the streets, checking in on former camp residents and maintaining communication. He said things have been hard since the encampment was torn down, and it's affected his mental health.

"I've had a really toughtime," Mthembu said. "We had more deaths in two weeks amongst the people that we knew from camp than we did for the entire 40 plus days wewere there."

He spoke with one of those people the night before she died.

"She said:'I love you and I really care about you.' We had a really nice conversation. Andthen the next day I get a call saying that she's dead and I'll never get to talk to her again."

Mthembu said the councillorsmotions areimportant because the houseless are struggling to find a sense of security "amidst powers that [keep]cutting them off at every chance."

The two notices of motionareon Wednesday's council agenda, but will only be discussed if council votes unanimously to move up the debate. The council meeting is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CST.

With files by Jessie Anton